


Our Eyes'll Adjust

by betweentheheavesofstorm



Category: Black Sails
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Relationships, Eleanor Guthrie/Charles Vane - Freeform, F/F, Fluff, I just really liked this AU, Past Max/Eleanor - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-25 20:50:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12540928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betweentheheavesofstorm/pseuds/betweentheheavesofstorm
Summary: When the university shuts down the LGBT+ society after a rowdy protest, Flint's solution is to create a Pirate Society.And somehow, that's the least of Anne Bonny's problems.





	Our Eyes'll Adjust

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "Light My Candle" in RENT.

Everyone comes to the Pirate Society for different reasons. There are those who follow its original objective: to replace the LGBT+ society after it was shut down. As co-presidents, Flint and his boyfriend lead that crusade. Eleanor is mostly there to make sure it doesn’t get shut down again. Jack’s obsessed with pirates, and Charles goes for the rum and to annoy Eleanor. Anne goes because Jack wants to, and while she’s not big into societies it can be good to be in a room of other gay people.

What she can’t figure out is why Max goes.

It can’t be just because she’s gay. It’s not always a lot to have in common with people. If you like them, you can bond over shared experiences, but the first component is crucial. Max doesn’t seem to like anyone in the society, apart from maybe Silver. She doesn’t seem to dislike anyone either, with the possible exception of Charles.

‘Maybe she likes pirates,’ Jack suggests, when Anne brings it up on the way to a meeting. ‘The democracy, the freedom – ’

‘She’s studying business,’ Anne points out. ‘I don’t see her embracing lawlessness.’

‘She and Eleanor had a thing,’ Jack says.

‘Yeah, _had_.’ She pulls her coat more closely around her. It’s colder out than she expected. ‘So why the fuck is she still around?’

‘Why the fuck d’you care?’ Charles asks, which really is a fair question.

‘I don’t care, it’s just pissing me off.’

‘Yes, because this is exactly how you express indifference,’ Jack says. ‘Can we drop it, or do you want to muse on how Max gets her eyeliner _so_ perfect – ’

‘Shut up.’

She doesn’t talk about Max _that_ much. Not any more than Charles complains about Flint’s presidency. (‘Nobody elected him. He creates a society just so he can be president?’) Jack’s just... being Jack.

They’re fashionably late, as they’ve been for all their meetings. An argument is already in full swing. Nobody seems to notice as they edge round to a corner table. From what she can hear, Anne gathers that Silver doesn’t want to be the welfare officer, but nobody will accept anyone else.

She glances at Jack. He, too, has pieced it together, and is looking pained. He’d love to run, if he hadn’t got it into his head that he’s straight and feels unsuitable for the committee. (He’s only dated girls, she’s the love of his life, et cetera. She’s seen him checking out Charles’s arse. There’s no way he’s heterosexual.)

The focus is still on Silver, so Anne can sneak a look in Max’s direction. It’s not an obsession, whatever Jack says. If anything, Anne’s annoyed by Max’s presence. She always sounds superior with that French accent and anyone who wears that much eyeliner should be an emo but instead she’s wearing long flowing dresses. She’s an odd mishmash of gay subcultures that shouldn’t work together but somehow do.

Nobody notices Anne looking. Charles is fixated on Eleanor, who is pretending not to notice, and everyone else is taking turns to wear Silver down. Pressuring people into their positions is an odd interpretation of democracy, but Anne doesn’t care enough to point that out.

When that’s resolved, Flint officially starts the meeting and starts outlining their next campaign. Until now, they’ve kept a relatively low profile. The LGBT+ society put their logo on everything; the pirate society will take credit for nothing. As far as the administration is concerned, it’s just a bunch of mostly queer students meeting up weekly to discuss Robert Louis Stevenson and drink rum.

‘You’re not really meant to be doing that either,’ Eleanor reminds Flint, when the topic comes up. ‘Drinking in university buildings is off-limits.’

‘And you’re going to tell the student union?’ Max asks. ‘They’re the ones who got us shut down in the first place.’

Eleanor’s eyes narrow. ‘Just because I’m the president doesn’t mean I control everything it does. I support this society. I’m here to stop it getting shut down again.’

‘Back to campaigning,’ Flint says, heading off the argument before it starts. ‘We’re going to revive the focus on gender neutral bathrooms. The admin dismissed us last time because they didn’t think there was any public support for it. There was no pressure on them. We need to generate that pressure – or at least, the image of it.’ He launches into a description of a sticker, poster and graffiti campaign.  

However much he stresses the importance of secrecy, no one’s going to believe that the pirate society isn’t involved. It has the same president and largely the same members as the LGBT+ society; it even meets on the same day of the week. The only real distinction is the skull-and-crossbones they hang on the door, and that’s at Jack’s insistence. It would be easy to trace activism back to them.

And Flint wants it to be easy. That, too, is screamingly obvious. The pirate society is a power move as much as a retaliation. He’s reminding the university that he’s not about to stop and he’s got the support of other students.

Anne’s definitely not his biggest fan, but she won’t deny him this.

 

She’s a lot less impressed with Flint when he lands her with stickering duty. She’s also paired with Max, which is a good thing only because the alternative is working with Eleanor. Theoretically, there’s another girl in the society, but Madi’s on ten different committees and never free.

Max looks great today, but it’s not like she doesn’t look great everyday. Standing next to her, Anne’s suddenly defensive of her outfit. It’s not that she feels self-conscious – the large beanie and long ratty coat are integral parts of the Anne Bonny aesthetic – but it still feels like she’s under attack.

‘Are you all right?’ Max asks, as they head into the bathroom. Silver got the stickers printed the other day. He got them at half price, which everyone strongly suspects means he flirted with the salesperson.

‘Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?’

‘You just looked tired.’

Charles set the fire alarm off last night, burning chips at 3 am. Living with him and Jack had seemed great in theory, but now second year has started it’s fast becoming a train wreck. None of them do any dishes and Jack’s the only one who knows how to clean – which doesn’t mean he will.

‘Didn’t get much sleep,’ she says. Max can interpret that however she likes.

Anne peels off a sticker and puts it on the nearest door. It’s surprisingly satisfying, smoothing it out to avoid creases or bubbles. Flint didn’t specify whether they were meant to go on the inside or the outside of the doors. It makes more sense to put them on the inside; people sitting on toilets are a captive audience.

She gets to work. At least this is the kind of job where they don’t have to look at or talk to each other. Hell, maybe it won’t be so bad. They’ll put the stickers on, hopefully without being interrupted, and then part ways and she can go back to being annoyed by Max from across a room. It was paranoid of her to expect anything more than that.

In another stroke of good luck, the toilets are mostly clean. One has toilet paper on the floor, but none smell or are overflowing. She finishes the first row quickly and moves onto the second. This bathroom is _big._

‘Do you think it’ll work?’ Anne asks. She didn’t mean to say it; the words came out of her before she could stop them.

‘What?’ Max pauses.

‘Flint’s plan to have a secret LGBT society.’ She’s making small talk. With _Max._ Something is very wrong with the universe.

‘I don’t know. I think it’s worth trying. You?’

‘Doesn’t have a chance. But it’s as good a way to spend time as any.’

‘If you think it’s pointless, why did you ask?’ Max frowns. ‘Why are you even here?’

Anne shrugs. This is exactly why small talk is a bad idea. ‘Easy way to break rules? The snacks are good? I need a way to make Jack forget that he’s done my laundry the last six times?’

Max doesn’t say anything, just looks away. Even though Anne had the last word it kind of feels like a defeat.

There’s only a couple of cubicles left. She peels the stickers off and slaps them on the doors, not bothering to get them the right way up. If students are going to be arseholes, a couple of stickers aren’t going to make a difference.

Max clears her throat. ‘What’s going on with you and Jack? If you don’t mind me asking.’

Anne technically started the conversation, which makes this her fault. Fuck’s sake.

‘What’s it to you?’

Max shrugs. ‘I wondered.’

‘We’re housemates,’ Anne says. She doesn’t have to explain herself.

‘And?’

‘We’re friends, sometimes I fuck him, that’s it. What are you and Eleanor?’

‘Over.’ Max’s gaze is infuriatingly steady.

‘How come?’

‘We were heading in different directions. It was only a matter of time.’

Well, this conversation is definitely over. Nodding a goodbye, Anne moves towards the door. She throws the empty sticker strip at the bin as she passes. It misses by a foot, but she doesn’t go to pick it up. She’s almost at the door when Max speaks.

‘We should be friends.’

Anne stops, but doesn’t look back.

‘There are so many guys in the society. We should have each others’ backs.’

‘Yeah, whatever,’ Anne says. Jack has her back. She starts walking again, letting the bathroom door slam shut behind her.  

 

When she gets home, it’s to find Jack in a state of agitation. She’s barely got through the door before he’s hurrying her through to the kitchen.

‘What?’ she hisses, batting him away.

‘Eleanor Guthrie’s here,’ he says. ‘She and Charles – ’

It’s not hard to put it together. ‘They’re fucking?’

Looking equal parts pained and excited, Jack nods.

It’s not unreasonable to have reservations. Eleanor is a hurricane of a person. God knows what kind of drama this will cause. But then again, this means Charles will stop sulking and that can only ever be good.

‘Fuck’s sake.’

‘How was stickering?’ Jack inquires, as she digs through her cupboard for something to eat. It’s going to be a choice between noodles and instant soup.

‘Fine.’

‘Discovered anything more about Max’s elusive motives?’

The soup will be quicker. She tears open the sachet and dumps its contents into the last clean mug.

‘Shut up.’

‘Is that a yes?’

‘She wants us to be friends. Thinks there are too many guys in the society.’

‘I see. And what to you think?’

‘Five years time and she’ll be a businesswoman. I can already see the pinstripe suit.’

‘There’s a lot to be said for pinstripes.’

‘Fuck you.’

 

The stickering campaign, if minimal, meets some success. None are removed by cleaners, though a couple get picked at by students. Billy also reports that some in the boys’ toilets have been graffitied.

Plus, Eleanor reports at their next meeting that the pirate society is still in the clear. Any admin staff that would have noticed haven’t raised any queries, so they’re good on that front.

Thomas starts outlining their next campaign, which will focus on info-posters. As usual, Anne starts to zone out. Thomas seems like an all right guy, but she’s never spoken more than two words to him and suspects he doesn’t believe that violence will solve problems. That said, he’s one of the few committee members to go by his first name. It’s a boys’ school thing, apparently.

More entertaining is watching other people figure out what’s going on with Eleanor. She’s returning Charles’s glares, and then pretending she hasn’t. It shouldn’t take long for the news to get around. Jack’s still veering between enjoying telling people and hating every minute.

Once Thomas has finished speaking and the usual arguing has subsided, Max gets up to outline the next society social. It’s nothing special, just another club night, but Anne can feel everyone perk up. She can also tell without looking at them that Charles and Jack want to go.

She needs better friends.

 

Once they’re actually there, the social isn’t actually bad. Max stressed that the dress code followed a pirate theme, which thankfully means there was no glitter to avoid. Some people have taken the theme very literally – Jack even has a hat – whereas others have a looser interpretation. Charles is wearing a baggy shirt and his only non-jean trousers, and Anne left her beanie at home.

It seems like everyone’s having a good time. Flint and Thomas are badly dancing round each other, Billy and Silver are doing shots at a table and when Anne went to pee she saw Charles and Eleanor angrily making out.

Jack, however, has disappeared. When she last saw him he was arguing with the DJ, trying to defend his request choices. Since then he’s vanished. She’s already spent ten minutes looking, and the only place left is the roof.

He’s not there, but Max is. She doesn’t seem to be smoking, just staring into space. The music was probably too loud for her profound thoughts, or something.

‘You seen Jack?’ Much as she doesn’t want to start a conversation, it’s also a question that needs asking.

‘No, sorry.’ Max’s hair is plaited again, with a couple of loose strands hanging down to frame her face. She’s wearing a dress that on anyone else would be gloriously ugly and on her is just glorious.

‘Aren’t you cold?’

‘Not really. I like the view.’

The club is halfway up a hill, so from here they can see down into the valley. It’s too dark to be much of a view, just rows of lights and the odd moving car. For some reason, looking at it makes Anne feel young.

‘Well, I gotta find him.’ There’s enough alcohol in her system for her not to be cold, but not so much as to make her stay and talk.

‘Hey,’ some guy slurs, as she moves away. She doesn’t realise he’s talking to her until he grabs her bicep.

‘Where you going?’

She yanks her arm back. He’s twice her size, but way more drunk than she is and she’s never stood down for any kind of sensible reason.

‘Did you harass my friend?’ Max has materialized at her elbow. Anne goes to push her out of the way, but Max pushes back, harder than she expected, and suddenly Max is standing between her and the guy.

‘Oh hey, you’re cute too,’ he says.

‘If you touch me or my friend again, I will get security.’ Max’s tone makes it clear that she is not fucking around.

‘Yeah, and what are they gonna do?’

‘They’re going to ask for your ID, and if you don’t provide it, I’m sure it’s on their system. From there I’ll take this up with your university, or employer, or the fucking police to say that you’re harassing girls.’

Some part of the threat – maybe it’s Max’s voice, or the word _police_ – gets through to the guy. He backs off.

‘Whoa, chill. I was joking, you can’t take a joke – ’

Max turns her back on him and half drags Anne down to the bathroom.

People don’t defend her like that. Charles has stood between her and someone else a couple of times, both by standing there and flexing his arms and by actually throwing punches. Jack doesn’t need to defend her; she’s usually the one protecting him. But standing off with someone, relying on _argument_ to end it – nobody’s ever done that for her.

‘What was _that?’_ she demands, as soon as they’re inside. The only other occupants are way too drunk to care about what they overhear.

Max leans over a sink to adjust her hair in the mirror. Even after a couple of hours out it’s still impeccably styled.

‘I thought it would be a good idea if you didn’t get kicked out.’

‘His uni wouldn’t have cared. It was a big bluff to make.’

‘I wasn’t bluffing,’ Max adjusts a stray hair. ‘I follow through.’

She turns, and Anne is suddenly aware of how close they are. She should step back. She can see how brown Max’s eyes are, contrasted with the eyeliner. She –

Max grabs the front of Anne’s jacket and pulls her forward until their lips meet and they’re kissing, they’re actually kissing in this dirty club bathroom and Anne discovers that she is very okay with that.

 

Plenty of things have happened to Jack that make him feel like he must have done something awful in a past life. Living with two people incapable of doing their own dishes is definitely one. Finding out that both of his housemates are getting laid and neither time does it involve him – yeah, that’s another.

Now and again, something happens to right the scale. Watching Eleanor and Max leave their respective partners’ rooms at the same time, and bump into each other? That’s one of those things.

**Author's Note:**

> This AU occurred to me a couple of weeks ago and I wrote out a list of headcanons before realising I really wanted it in fic format. I might still do the headcanons. 
> 
> If you have any questions or want to chat about Black Sails (I am in eternal need to bitch about Eleanor's characterisation s3-onward) I'm findable on [tumblr](http://www.betweentheheavesofstorm.tumblr.com)


End file.
